The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus, and more particularly, to an inspection apparatus suitable for inspecting tubular members, such as pipes.
Pipelines of various lengths and sizes are widely used in a variety of industries, transporting oil, gas, particulate matter, small solids suspended in fluids and other materials. Pipelines are installed underground and underwater, which results in the pipelines being subject to often harsh environmental conditions including temperature variations, deep sea pressures, and the like. With time, the environment causes pipelines to weaken, sometimes crack along the weld seams, often times corrode. Should the pipeline integrity become compromised, the material traveling along the pipeline may escape and cause substantial damage to the environment.
As a consequence, considerable efforts are dedicated to the inspection of the pipes during manufacturing process. Visual inspection may serve its purpose when the defects are visible. However, visible inspection has its limitations particularly inspection of the inner surface weld may become inefficient and expensive.
The industry has developed a variety of tools to facilitate detection of weld defects in tubular members. Some inspection devices use magnetic force created by magnetizing coils for inducing a magnetic field in the ferrous pipe. Inspection sensor measures changes in the induced magnetic field and produce signals representative of those changes. An analog-to-digital converter digitizes the measured signals representing the changes in the induced magnetic field. Other devices employ ultrasonic inspection methods that use sonic beams to locate defects in tubular members. Some ultrasonic devices use transducers that transmit sonic beams and receive reflected beams from inner and outer surfaces of the pipe, and from defects of the tubular members. In general, this technology is based on the speed of sound in metal and the fact that a sound wave will reflect (“echo”) from medium interfaces
Conventional techniques involve spraying of water on the outside of the pipe and then applying the sonic boom to uncover potential defects in the weld. However, this method relies largely on the experience of the technician performing the test. Human error can affect the results of the test, leading to missed imperfections in the weld. Therefore, a need exists for an inspection apparatus capable of providing information of defects in a pipe and capable of being easily operated during an inspection.
The present invention contemplates elimination of drawbacks associated with conventional technique and provision of an improved system and method of tubular members testing and inspection that is easy to use and operate.